Compex to the rescue

Overdid it . . . again

By Hammer Nutrition

We all have an injury now and
then. Oftentimes these injuries
require that we miss some of
our regular training while we
recover from the damage done. Compex
EMS can be a very useful tool to get you
back in the training game more quickly
and better ready to handle a decent level
of training when the time comes.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to talk
to many Compex users. A good number
of these athletes wonder why there isn't
more promotion of the fact that Compex
has benefits in addition to warming up,
building strength and endurance, and
recovering from training. I'm taking their
advice and reporting on some of the ways
that Compex can be effectively used to
quickly get back in the game.

Recovery after surgeries and
procedures

Let's look at more serious exercise-related
injuries, ones that require a
procedure to correct. In the case of
post-arthroscopic surgery, an imbalance
in the amount of strength in a muscle
group, left to right side, is dramatic.
This is measured pre- and post-surgery
by the level of stimulation required
to elicit a given degree of muscular
contraction on a fine scale from 1 to 999
on a Compex NMES unit. The imbalance
comes immediately post-procedure.
While recovering, being unable to train
normally will result in some degree of
atrophy or loss of tone. Compex can
return the affected limb to pre-procedure
strength levels quickly - sometimes with
just a few sessions - without putting any
load on the affected joint.

Labral tears, tears in the cartilage that
lines a joint's articulating surface such as
in the hip and shoulder, are on the rise,
likely because the diagnostic techniques
have improved. These tears can be
repaired, but often leave the athlete at
a very reduced level of activity during
the recovery process. One can imagine
that training the muscle after injury of a
joint is possible with Compex because the
injured joint need not move or support
any kind of weight-bearing load.

Injuries to muscles and tendons, and
chronic soreness and tightness

Injuries that may or may not take an
athlete away from training can be treated
by training the muscle in the injured
area. Two common injuries are very
effectively treated with Compex.

The iliotibial band, or IT band, is
commonly overloaded by athletes who
rapidly increase the training load. Hill
climbing while running or cycling can
cause IT band inflammations. A rapid
increase in the distance of a long run
is another culprit. The injury is often
managed well with rolling the side of
the thigh on a foam roller, though some
athletes do not get the relief they need
even with multiple treatments daily.

Compex is very effective at treating
this nagging injury. Its frequencies
are specific to motor neurons that
stimulate muscle fibers to contract.
These frequencies will not affect other
tissue. When Compex is used on the
side of the thigh, the muscle around
the pads contracts, but the IT band
itself does not. This movement of the
muscle, but not of the connective tissue,
breaks the adhesions that form between
these two tissues and causes the pain
on the outside of the knee. The thigh
muscles will work much more efficiently
if they are not bound to the IT band.
The healing of the tissue is aided by an
increased blood supply that accompanies
the opening of the arterioles, feeding
blood to the contracting muscle.

The benefits from treating the plantar
area of the foot with Compex are the
result of the same principles mentioned
above; move the muscle, don't move the
fascia connective tissue surrounding the
muscle, and break the adhesions while
increasing the blood supply to the area.

Injuries that benefit from increasing
blood supply to an area can be treated
with Compex. Tendonitis can be difficult
to recover from, partly because tendons
are not well supplied with blood.
Bringing blood to the area with a Compex
unit speeds recovery.

Chronic soreness and tightness are
problems that aren't necessarily
considered to be injuries, like sore
neck and shoulders, tight and sore
lower backs, tight hips and calves, and
tender compartments around the shins;
all of these respond well to Compex
treatment. There are a number of
programs that help with these issues.
The Active Recovery and the Recovery
Plus programs have two stages: the flush
and the endorphin production. The flush
stage of the program squeezes the blood
out of a muscle's capillary beds. The
waste products from exercise are flushed
away, and there is room for fresh blood
that supports the work done to recover.
The endorphin production is the "feel
good" part of the program. Heavy or dead
feeling muscles feel lighter and fresher,
and the muscles will relax once treated.
If a muscle is tight and sore, this stage of
the recovery programs will help a great
deal. The Massage program is all about
promoting endorphin production. Knotted
muscles and muscles that are sore to the
touch will feel light and supple as the
pain melts away.

We all fall prey to our bodies' complaints
about the amount of work we've done.
In a whole variety of ways, Compex is
a therapeutic training tool that will get
you back in the game and doing what you
love to do - getting out there and moving
your body! HN